OB Build 1.4
Battlestar Galactica Online - Open Beta 1.4 Update 14 April 2011 This Update introduces several significant new features and adjustments to the game, including: *A new reward system for PvP that allows players to earn new Strike ships and the ability to command a Battlestar or Basestar for a limited period of time *A major revision to the game economy *Scaling of rewards based on the relative level between opponents *Many bug fixes and other improvements 'MERITS' Merits are a new reward system for PvP play, representing awards for exceptional combat performance in the service of your fleet: Merits are treated as a new resource/currency *Merits cannot be exchanged for other resources, and cannot be purchased Merits can be earned in three ways: *Completing the Disrupt Enemy Operations assignment *As 'loot drops' from defeating enemy players *Defeating enemy Outposts and player-controlled Battlestars/Basestars – all players within combat range of an enemy Outpost or player-controlled Battlestar/Basestar when it is forced to withdraw will receive an award of Merits and XP A pilot can earn up to 1,000 Merits each day (a 'day' is defined as the same 24 hour period used for Assignments) Merits can be used to purchase unique rewards that cannot be attained through other means. Initially, these include: *Powerful new Strike ships – the Viper Mk VII for Colonial pilots and the Cylon War Raider for Cylon pilots (The Viper Mk VII or Cylon War Raider can be purchased with Merits at your fleet's reclaimed base) *The ability to take command of the Battlestar Pegasus or secondary Basestar for 1 hour, or until defeated in combat (Speak to the commander of your fleet – Admiral Adama or Number One – to exchange Merits for the temporary command of the Pegasus or Basestar) *Improved nuclear missile warheads (Nuclear missile warheads can be purchased with Merits from all Fleet Stores and Archives) 'ECONOMY' All the core elements of the in-game economy have been revised, and several significant adjustments have been made: 'Asteroid Mining' The frequency and average yields of Tylium and Water asteroids in all star systems have been revised, in line with the revision to Titanium asteroids in the previous Update *The frequency of Tylium and Water asteroids has been increased in lower Threat Level star systems, slightly increased in medium Threat Level star systems, and remains unchanged in high Threat Level star systems *The average yields of Tylium and Water asteroids has been reduced in lower Threat Level star systems, slightly reduced in medium Threat Level star systems, and made more consistent in high Threat Level star systems As a result of these changes, it should be easier to find asteroids containing all three resources in low and medium Threat Level star systems, but the average income per hour of mining in a given star system should not be significantly affected 'Water' Critical Water shortages in both fleets have led to an increase in its value *Water can now be exchanged for Cubits at a rate of 5 Water = 1 Cubit at all Fleet Stores and Archives *As part of this change, all existing 'stockpiles' of Water have been converted to Tylium at the previous exchange rate of 1 Water = 5 Tylium 'PvE Loot' Loot values for all NPC enemies have been revised, and new 'loot tables' have been generated for them *The average value of loot drops should now more accurately represent the threat posed by each type and level of NPC enemy (Drones, in particular, were previously awarding too much loot for the threat they represent) 'PvP Loot' Loot values for all player ships have been revised, and new 'loot tables' have been generated for them *All player ships now have a small chance to drop Merits (Advanced, Cubit-only and Merit-only player ship types have a higher chance that Standard ship types) *To balance the addition of Merits, the Cubit drops of player ships have been reduced (as before, standard Strike player ships will not drop Cubits as loot) *The average loot values for Advanced (upgraded), Cubit-only and Merit-only player ship types are now higher than for standard player ship types of the same size 'Trash' Loot *The Tylium values of 'trash' loot items (Scrap Metal, Hull Plates and so on) have been reduced, but both NPC enemies and player ships will generally drop more of them (this change was simply to allow finer tuning of the average loot values of NPC enemies and player ships) 'REWARD SCALING' Both XP and Loot rewards from defeating opponents will now be reduced if you are significantly higher in Level than the opponent: *The system works by comparing your pilot's Level to that of your opponent *In all cases, pilots with a Level higher that 20 are treated as if their Level is 20 for the purposes of this system *If your pilot's Level is no more than 5 Levels higher than an opponent, you will receive full XP and Loot from defeating that opponent *If your pilot's Level is more than 5 Levels higher than an opponent, the XP and Loot you receive will be reduced, according to the following tables: 'PvE Level Difference' *5 or less Levels higher – Full XP and Loot *6 Levels higher – 80% XP and 80% chance to receive each loot item *7 Levels higher – 60% XP and 60% chance to receive each loot item *8 Levels higher – 40% XP and 40% chance to receive each loot item *9 Levels higher – 20% XP and 20% chance to receive each loot item *10 or more Levels higher – 0% XP and no loot 'PvP Level Difference' *5 or less Levels higher – Full XP and Loot *6 Levels higher – 80% XP and 80% chance to receive each loot item *7 Levels higher – 60% XP and 60% chance to receive each loot item *8 Levels higher – 40% XP and 40% chance to receive each loot item *9 or more Levels higher – 20% XP and 20% chance to receive each loot item **Example 1: If a Level 9 pilot defeats a Level 2 NPC opponent, they are 7 Levels higher and thus will receive 60% of the normal XP and have a 60% chance to receive each loot item the NPC drops **Example 2: If a Level 37 pilot defeats a Level 14 enemy player, the Level 37 pilot is treated as being Level 20, and thus 6 levels higher than the enemy player. They will receive 80% of the normal XP and have an 80% chance to receive each loot item the player's ship drops **Note that in Squadrons (groups), XP and loot from defeated opponents is first divided among the members of the Squadron as usual, and then their individual Levels are compared to the Level of the opponent to determine any reduction in the XP or loot they receive 'GAMEPLAY' Main updates: 'Assignments' *A Merit reward has been added to the Disrupt Enemy Operations assignment, and the objectives have been revised *The objective of the Fleet Support assignment has been changed to Tylium instead of Water 'Interiors' *Fixed several geometry issues that could cause pilot characters to become stuck when moving around 'Technical Issues' *Fixed a memory leak that could occur when playing the game in the Chrome browser 'INTERFACE' Main updates: 'Controls' *Ship throttle can now be controlled with SHIFT+ mouse wheel 'Heads Up Display (HUD)' The Level display of the currently selected target (shown to the right of the target's name at the top of the Target Info Box in the upper centre of the HUD) will now be color-coded according to the reward scaling system: *If the Level number is WHITE, you will receive full XP and loot from defeating the target *If the Level number is YELLOW, you will receive reduced XP and loot from defeating the target *If the Level number is GREY, you will receive no XP or loot if the target is an NPC, or the minimum XP and loot (20%) if the target is an enemy player *For more details on the Reward Scaling system, see the appropriate section of these notes, above The Level display for NPC opponents will now show their effective 'player level' (used by the Reward Scaling system), rather than the previous 1-5 ranking 'Pilot Log Window, Skills tab' *Fixed a bug that jumbled the order of the Skills in the Skills tab of the Pilot Log window 'Options' *All graphics settings in the Options screen (default hotkey O) should now remain as chosen by the player, including the Model Detail setting *A new Glow Effects option has been added to the Option screen (default hotkey O) – switching Glow Effects off should help avoid framerate drops when weapons are firing for players who experience this issue 'COMBAT, SHIPS & SYSTEMS' Main updates: 'Nuclear Missile Warheads' *The previous Nuclear Warhead ammunition types have been removed from the Fleet Stores and Archives and are no longer available *Improved Nuclear Warhead ammunition types with a larger damage bonus have been added to the Fleet Stores and Archives, and are available to purchase using Merits 'GRAPHICS & EFFECTS' Main updates: 'Characters' *Improved player character models *Improved 'idle' animations for player character models *Improved textures on player and NPC character models 'Interiors' *Added higher quality lightmaps 'Effects' *The 'sweep' effect when scanning asteroids for resources has been brightened 'Ships' *The SyFy Viper Mk II and Raider paint schemes should be functional again 'SOUND & MUSIC' Main updates: 'Effects' *Sound effects for cannon fire should be at a more appropriate volume, relative to other sound effects in the game 'HOTFIX' A Hotfix has been applied to all servers that corrects some errors in the 'Threat Level' of certain NPC opponents: 'REWARD SCALING' *Mining ships are now considered to be Level 15, and so should reward full loot and XP to all players *Convoy ships now have Levels, and should award loot and XP to players of appropriate Levels *The Levels of all Drone types have been increased, such that 'Rugged' Drones should now award full loot and XP to players of Level 20+ *The Levels of smaller Weapon Platforms have been slightly increased *Note that all the above changes are only to the 'Threat Level' of the relevant *NPCs – their combat stats and loot values have not been altered Category:Updates